<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=22NSg0_1GvqKVLO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=22NSg0_1GvqKVLO00" width="1585" height="1046" ><figcaption>Massachusetts State House (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald).</figcaption></figure>Massachusetts voters have spoken clearly. Now state leaders must stop stonewalling the will of the people on government transparency and accountability.The electorate has delivered two unmistakable messages to Beacon Hill over the last two statewide election cycles: The public deserves access to the work of its government, and the people deserve an independent examination of how lawmakers conduct that work.The Legislature, the governor’s office and every state official responsible for enforcing the voters’ wishes should listen. It’s time to enact both petitions—without more excuses, evasions or delay.By an extraordinary 86% margin, voters demanded that the Legislature and governor’s office be subject to the public records law.That’s not a close election result to be parsed for hidden ambiguity. It’s an overwhelming declaration that the public’s business must be conducted in public and that elected officials should be subject to the same transparency that applies elsewhere in government.That message was equally clear a few years ago, when voters approved by nearly a 3-to-1 margin a petition calling for the state auditor to examine the inner workings of the Legislature.Yet that hasn’t happened. A mandate supported by such a decisive majority should not be treated as a political inconvenience that can be quietly shelved until public attention moves elsewhere.That’s precisely how public trust is lost. Constituents are told that their votes matter, then watch as powerful institutions search for procedural obstacles or other reasons to postpone enacting the result.Top state lawmakers have revealed a sharp divide between the governor’s support and their hesitation to fully implement Question 1.Legislators have been working on their own alternative open records law, which Auditor Diana DiZoglio says is a watered-down version of what voters have approved.Gov. Healey says she supports Question 1 and will demonstrate that position by vetoing any legislative alternative that doesn’t go as far.However, that’s not the position of the two most powerful senators.Senate President Karen Spilka and Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem both say they have questions about the constitutionality of Question 1; it’s the same tactic they’ve employed to block the implementation of the auditor’s ability to delve into the workings of the Legislature.The problem isn’t merely that two important reforms remain unrealized. The deeper concern lies in the message sent when officials appear more responsive to institutional self-preservation than to the people they represent.There’s no compelling justification for exempting the Legislature or the governor’s office from meaningful public-records requirements. The laws made in the State House affect every Massachusetts resident.The taxes collected, programs funded and policies adopted shape the lives of families, workers, businesses and communities throughout the commonwealth.With so much at stake, the public should have an understanding about how these decisions are made, who participates in them and why particular choices prevail.Public records allow journalists, watchdogs, civic organizations and ordinary people to ask informed questions. They help distinguish a good-faith policy disagreement from a decision made behind closed doors.They also protect honest public servants by making policies clearer and more accountable – even for the many members of the Legislature left out of the deliberative process.The same principle supports an independent audit of the Legislature. Lawmakers should not be the sole judges of how their institution operates, spends the public’s money or follows its own procedures.An examination by the state auditor shouldn’t be seen as a substitute for legislative judgment. It’s meant to provide an objective, second-party accounting of this insular institution’s practices, and identify areas where clearer rules, stronger oversight or greater efficiencies could expedite the pace of this historically underperforming body.Those who resist these reforms may invoke separation of powers or the Legislature’s constitutional independence. Those principles deserve respect, but they cannot become a blanket defense against accountability.Constitutional authority isn’t a license to ignore a decisive vote or deny residents basic information about the operation of their government.The attorney general and legislative leaders should stop treating these mandates as someone else’s responsibility. They should establish a clear timetable for bringing the Legislature and governor’s office under the public records law and for completing the auditor’s examination.If statutory changes, administrative rules or formal guidance are required, officials should identify them publicly and pursue them promptly. Every additional delay only strengthens the suspicion that Beacon Hill believes it’s exempt from the standards it imposes on others.Massachusetts prides itself on civic engagement and a long tradition of democratic government. But democracy isn’t measured only by the opportunity to cast a ballot. It’s judged by what happens after the votes are counted.When citizens speak with an 86% majority — or with nearly three votes for every one against — government has a duty to respond.Beacon Hill should throw off its old habits of secrecy and institutional resistance.No more delay, no more procedural fog and no more assumption that public outrage will eventually fade. The people have already made their position clear.Now state leaders must prove that in Massachusetts, the voters — not those they elected — have the final word.</div></body>

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Massachusetts voters have spoken clearly. Now state leaders must stop stonewalling the will of the people on government transparency and accountability. The electorate has delivered two unmistakable messages to Beacon Hill over the last two statewide election cycles: The public deserves access to the work of its government, and the people deserve an independent examination of how lawmakers conduct that work.

Editorial: No question: Enact transparency reforms voters have demanded

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Massachusetts voters have spoken clearly. Now state leaders must stop stonewalling the will of the people on government transparency and accountability. Th

Editorial: No question: Enact transparency reforms voters have demanded

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